


Galra Instincts

by SherbetLemon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Animal Instincts, Confessions, Cute, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Galra Courtship, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gift Giving, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nests, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Sharing a Bed, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), canonverse, friends helping their friends get together, giving pebbles as declarations of love, well galra mindset Keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-03-23 14:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13789635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherbetLemon/pseuds/SherbetLemon
Summary: 'So, after we got back from the beach yesterday I thought I’d look into Galra behaviour and look.' Hunk squinted at the screen, skimming over the words. He gasped, causing Pidge to smirk.'Yep.' She nodded excitedly, 'doesn't matter what planet they're on, or what situation they're in. Galra have always used presenting pebbles as a courtship display!'In which Keith returns to the castle after staying with the Blade of Marmora and has picked up some interesting new habits.





	1. Chapter 1

A knock sounded on Keith's door and he naively shouted 'come in!'

No hesitation. Not even a smidgeon of concern brushed through his brain. He just responded and now, he had to pay the price.

'Hey ma- oh my god what happened to your room!'

Lance was barely through the door before he turned to a statue gawking at the room laid out in front of him. Now was when Keith remembered where he was - who he was. Last time Lance had entered his room it was empty, not a pillow out of place. It was a cold space set up for a quick escape. Nothing special. And now? Well, now it was a mess. He swallowed thickly.

'Oh, hey Lance, what's up?'

He tried to sound casual, he really did. Act natural, pretend this was normal and that Lance was the strange one. If anything, it would rile him up and he'd forget the room situation entirely in favour of having an argument. Alas, when Lance turned to the voice his shock turned to mild amusement. Keith had never felt more aware of his limbs. He’d been caught red handed. Surrounded by a nest of pillows, wrapped in a fleece blanket and curled up against the end of his bed, he had been enjoying the epitome of comfort life had to offer. A joy he’d been keeping selfishly to himself.

  
This was something he had learnt from the Blades. Something he hadn't expected to learn at all, actually. On the first day he arrived, when they took him to the sleeping quarters he’d expected serious, clinical rooms, akin to how he kept his own on the castle ship. What he discovered wasn’t even close. When presented with the barracks, he had been shown a long, thin room, lit up with a deep blue light that seemed to increase the strength of gravity on his eyelids. Cut into the sides were small cubby holes containing cushioned nests each belonging to a single Marmorite.

Keith had halted at the sight. This was how the Galra lived? The hard-boiled soldiers who enslaved entire solar systems? They slept in nests!? It was incomprehensible.

As he was led to one set up especially for him, he peered into each barracks. Some were like birds’ nests, others more like igloos. Posters lined the walls of a couple whilst others displayed selections of knives – that, at least, seemed to fit his schema of the Galran rebels. He even glimpsed a Marmorite curled peacefully asleep, several heavy-duty blankets draped across him.

And then, he was presented with his own. The Blades had set up a little nest just for him, containing lots of fluffy red blankets and large pillows. And then they just left him to it. He was expected to sleep in a nest? Like a Galra? Then again, he was part Galra, right? Clambering in, he pulled one of the soft blankets around himself and morphed into a burrito. Snuggling into the side he fell asleep almost instantly. Was this witchcraft? Somehow, he had hacked his biology and found the optimal method of relaxation.

  
Now that he'd been reintroduced to the castle, his old ways seemed wrong. He couldn't relax, certainly couldn't sleep. There was only one thing for it. And that's how he ended up here; Lance looking down on him currently curled up at the foot of his bed, covered in pillows and holding tightly to a blanket. Granted, he was now sat up instead of sleeping but that didn’t really count for much. Added to that he'd taken some of Coran's bulbs and spread the blue lights across the floor to reproduce the ambient lighting the blades had. He was pretty satisfied with the job he'd done, impressed with his own resourcefulness, even. But, ultimately, he realised it was not a very 'human' thing to have done. Lance was going to have a field day.

'You okay there, buddy?' He wheezed, clutching his stomach, tears appearing at the corner or his eyes as he desperately tried to contain his laughter.

Keith pouted. Damn the Blades comforting ways, if he hadn't been so peaceful he would've thought ahead and told Lance to piss off instead of inviting him right in. He swallowed thickly before mustering his most level voice and offering a short 'Fine, thanks.'  
Lance finally burst, bubbles of laughter popping into the room, filling the air with its sweet sound. He was bent over, nearly crying with his amusement, hand falling forward as if he expected his legs to give out with the force of having to laugh so wildly.

Wiping tears from his eyes, he finally spoke in a wobbly voice, 'Oh god I just came in to ask you where the spare pillows were. Guess I found them!'

Another round of laughter began to Keith’s aggrievance. He glared at the other pulling his blanket tighter around himself, feeling almost threatened at the insinuation that Lance would be scavenging from his carefully constructed nest.

'You can't have any.'

Lance blinked, the hilarity of the situation suddenly dumped off a cliff.

'Uhh I think you have enough.'

Leaning down, he reached out to steal the pillow closest to him. Keith wasn’t about to let this horrific crime happen and let out an involuntary growl, scaring the both of them.

'Woah! Alright!' Lance jumped back eyeing the wolf., ‘I won’t take one, sheesh.’

Keith sat stunned, barely processing his actions. He shook his head in disbelief, 'I’m sorry. I don't know why I did that.'

Lance kept a wary eye on him, 'Are you feeling, alright? Did the blades do something to you?'

'No! No...' He paused to think over his time with the blades. It's not like he understood all their ways, the fact they didn't bond like Voltron felt wrong. But their attitude to work spoke to Keith in a way no-one else could. And then the sleeping arrangement. It seemed strange at first but then something seemed to click. Keith may, for the most part, be human but there were alien parts to him too. Maybe he could embrace that?

He sighed, 'Being with the blades, living as one of them, I realised that I…’

Trailing off he looked up at Lance, who stood listening attentively, encouraging him to carry on.

‘I’m not quite human. Like, yeah, I’m mostly human but then there’ll be stuff, stuff like this!’

He gestured to the nest of pillows surrounding him, the lights strewn across the floor. ‘They're weird, I know. But, somehow, it just fits. Like, on a molecular level.'

Lance nodded, slowly sinking down to sit just outside of Keith's cocoon.

‘So, what you’re saying is, you’re more Galra than you first thought?’

‘Yes!’ Keith exclaimed, glad that Lance could provide the words that evaded him, ‘I mean, maybe I’m not purple and I don’t want to wage war against the entire universe-‘

‘I’d beg to differ’

Keith gave him a murderous glare, ‘BUT, I think there’s more to being Galra than just that.’

Lance considered his words, ‘I guess I just never expected you to change from just hanging around with them.'

'It's not a change though.' Keith insisted, lurching forward so Lance couldn’t avoid his sincerity. ‘This has always been me, I just never knew about it before. Like an instinct that had been lying dormant. Now it’s made an appearance, it’s like the puzzle pieces finally fit together. Everything just makes sense.’

Lance hummed, 'Galra or not, you're still our hot-headed, now selfish-over-pillows, red paladin who still sports a ridiculous mullet.'

Keith was unimpressed. With a swift kick he sent a pillow flying into Lance's face. 'Take it and leave.'

Lance made an indignant noise. 'I thought we were bonding!?'

'You ruined it.' Keith huffed back, flipping over to face the wall.

He could hear Lance grumbling to himself as he clambered to his feet leaving Keith to stew in peace.

~~><><><><~~

The next morning, a yawning Keith entered the kitchen, slowly tuning into the conversation like an old portable radio.

'Lance said it was cu-'

'CREEPY I SAID IT WAS VERY CREEPY.'

Lance was stood red faced, hands slammed on the table as he yelled over Hunks voice. Keith looked between them, confused, but couldn't be bothered to question what was going on. It wasn't unusual for Lance to have an outburst early in the morning. He swept through to grab a bowl, standing in front of the goo tube. That's when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck twitch. Like a windup toy, he turned stiffly around to see the rest of the team staring at him with glee. Hunk was one hundred percent adoration, Pidge smirked like she knew something he didn't - which, in her defence, she probably did. Shiro cleared his throat, pretending to ignore Keith, mouth perked in amusement. Lance was still red-faced pointedly looking away from Keith.

He frowned, asking carefully 'Am I missing something?'

The room stayed quiet, no one daring to take a step onto the rickety bridge. Shiro looked up at him almost too innocently 'well a little birdy-'

Pidge snorted, loud and ugly, throwing down her spoon as she desperately tried to cover her laughter. Hunk wasn't fairing much better, shoulders bouncing up and down. Shiro cleared his throat again, smirk pulling at his lips, 'a little birdy told us you're more of a nest egg than you let on.'

That was it. Hunk broke, bellowing laughter escaping his lungs. Pidge was practically crying, clutching her stomach as she nearly fell off her chair. Shiro smiled widely whilst Lance sunk further in his chair trying to hide. Why was he trying to hide? And what was Shiro talking about? Nest eggs? Then it clicked.

'You told them!?'

Lance covered his face in shame.

'Oh no don't blame Lance!' Hunk said between bursts of laughter, 'he was just trying to tell us how cu-'

'CREEPY. I SAID CREEPY HUNK, REMEMBER?' Lance insisted, face flushing.

Keith scowled at him, 'as I told you, it's a _Galra_ thing.'

'Actually,’ Pidge chimed in, having recovered from her laughter enough to interrupt them from their impending argument, ‘I’m rather interested in that.'

Keith blinked at her until she elaborated.

'The castle's data on the Galra is ten thousand years old, there's no way to tell if it's still accurate. I was wondering if the Galra behaviour you display matches to the data.'

‘Right.’

He wasn't really sure what Pidge wanted from him and was becoming a little concerned he was next in line to become a new lab rat. Sensing this, Pidge sighed and explained further, 'look, if you do anything unusual tell me about it so I can add it to the database.'

Keith agreed, begrudgingly. Pidge's research was important to the mission, even if it was embarrassing and he got the feeling it would escalate into rigorous, intrusive testing.

'Good morning Paladins!' Coran announced as he strode into the he kitchen, radiance providing the sunrise that was missing in space. 'In just a few humble Vargas we'll be landing on Lasalis for some much needed reconnaissance. Make sure you're ready!'

The group nodded, before going about their breakfast as usual, the faint pink tint on Lance’s cheeks unwavering.

~~><><><><~~

Lasalis was a grey planet. Grey grass, grey water, grey skies. Like it was permanently a cloudy winters day. Coran wanted the ore that could only be found in the caves on this planet’s bays, so they trekked across the drab fields onto the equally drab cliffs. Looking down, they found small pebble beach’s lining the coast, caves arching in and out along the undulating shoreline. The cliffs were a pale purple, the stone beach made up of the same colour as well as whites, greens and, of course, more grey. It was the most colour they'd seen all day. Climbing down the cliffs, Coran headed to the first cave whilst Allura and Shiro explored another.

Lance threw himself down on the pebbles spreading his legs and leaning back on his hands. He closed his eyes, breathing in the fresh, ocean spray. It wasn't quite like earth, the sea lacking salt for a start, but it was close enough. Hunk settled down next to him and started easy conversation between them. It was a peaceful, well-deserved break from the drama that surrounded Voltron wherever they went.

Keith was exploring the beach, staring wide eyed at the gravel beneath his feet, spotting the most beautiful stones. There were spiky crystals on rough rock, smooth stones with veins sparkling like they were painted with luminescent paint and pebbles shaped like clouds dipped in candyfloss. He couldn't help but pick them up, roll them around in his hand. And then, like a bird building a nest, he would deposit them next to Lance before going and searching for more. Back and forth like clockwork, he’d soon accumulated a small pile.

'Keith buddy,'

Lance caught his arm before he could leave on his quest to find another. 'What's up with the rocks?'

He was looking at him with an amused smile as confusion clung to his eyes.

'I...' Keith tilted his head, drawing his eyebrows together. Why was he giving Lance a bunch of stones? It didn't make sense. 'I don't know.'

Hunk giggled next to him, looking at Keith with adoring eyes. 'Who knew Galra had such cute habits?'

Oh. It was instinctual.

'Hey Pidge!' Hunk called over his shoulder, 'check it out! Keith's doing weird alien stuff.'

Keith scowled at Hunk.

'I mean, no offence.'

Pidge bounded over to the group, eager to learn. 'What's he doing?'

Keith rolled his eyes, a blush threatening to rise through his cheeks. 'I'm not a circus act.'

The other just fixed him with a look. 'If I can analyse your behaviour we can see how it matches up with existing databases on the Galra and could use it to work out what actions they’re likely to take. It could help us defeat Zarkon.'

Keith just crossed his arms, refusing to look at the group.

'So what was he up to?' Pidge continued, ignoring Keith right back.

'Collecting rocks.'

'Odd.' Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose to focus on the small pile of gems Keith had collected. 'Did you bring them here for safe keeping?'

Keith shrugged, stubbornly refusing to give a proper answer.

'Oooh ooh maybe it's like when a cat brings in gifts to their owners.'

'Nuh uh! Keith,' Lance pointed a finger at him, glaring, 'no bringing in dead animals.'

'I wouldn't!' Keith yelped, fully offended by the unsavoury comment.

'Lance,’ Hunk warned, ‘Keith offered us a gift, we shouldn't scold him-.'

At least Hunk still treated Keith with respect.  

'-even if it is a gross dead bird.'

There goes the last light in his life.

'THERE IS NO DEAD BIRD!' He cried, having officially lost all three of his teammates and unwilling to give up his dignity as well. A lone wolf left to fend for himself needed something going for him.

Lance eyed him suspiciously from where he sat still relaxed on the beach, 'I might need to start keeping the mice away from you.'

Keith growled, 'I'm not a cat!'

'Guys he's not a cat.' Pidge chimed in, 'If he was a cat, he would be trying to feed you. I'm pretty sure even Galra don't eat rocks.'

Keith relaxed from his fighting stance, 'Thank you Pidge.'

'I reckon these stones are a gift though. Maybe an offer of friendship? I'll look into it at the castle.'

'Aww Galra Keith wants to be friends! C'mon,' Hunk eased himself onto his feet, holding his arms open in front of him, 'bring it in buddy, human style.'

Keith rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be squeezed until his ribs ached.

'Guys!' Shiro appeared behind the group. 'We're heading out now.'

That was their cue. Pidge led the way up the beach, Hunk and Keith in tow.

'Lance?' Shiro looked back to where Lance was still crouched on the beach, stuffing his pockets with stones. He froze, looking up gormless. 'Uhh...'

Shiro sighed, a heavy, exasperated sigh. 'What are you doing?'

'Well, umm...' Lance floundered, trying to explain his odd behaviour 'Keith gave us these stones and they're like… a Galra gift I guess? I can't just leave them here.'

Shiro rubbed his forehead, 'Right.'

Saying no more he headed up the beach letting Lance catch up a minute later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did someone say exam worth 20 percent of my module on monday?? ha haha.. *sweats nervously*


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some well-meaning teammates try to help Keith's new habit draw him closer to Lance, much to Keith's distress.  
> Meanwhile, Lance has trouble remaining unaffected.

'Hunk!'

Hunk had been lazily strolling past the work station before Pidge had caught him in her butterfly net. He turned to where she peered around the side of a console, like an owl with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

'Check this out.'

Grabbing a chair, he swung into the space beside her, looking at the monitor that seemed to display an encyclopaedia entry. Rubbing his hands together, he asked, 'Okay, what we looking at?'

'So, after we got back from the beach yesterday I thought I’d look into Galra behaviour and look.' Hunk squinted at the screen, skimming over the words. He gasped, causing Pidge to smirk.

'Yep.' She nodded excitedly, 'doesn't matter what planet they're on, or what situation they're in. Galra have always used presenting pebbles as a courtship display!'

'Keith wants to court Lance!?' Hunk cried, 'oh my god this is amazing!'

'What's amazing?'

The two stood abruptly, staring over the monitor like meerkats on watch. Lance had stepped into the room having heard the commotion and was approaching with little caution. The meerkats shared a brief look of alarm before Pidge launched into a very complicated, very fake explanation,

'I designed a new Nano transformer that allows us to use this console as a hyper-'

‘Stop!’ Lance interrupted, throwing a hand in her face. 'I'm sorry I asked.'

He swept out the room as quickly as he'd come in, causing Pidge to sigh in relief. Hunk leaned into ear.

'Shouldn't we tell him?'

She shook her head. 'We should test our theory first.'  
  
~~><><><><~~

Finishing his usual morning training, Keith entered the kitchen to grab breakfast, faltering at the door. Lance was sat lazily spooning goop into his mouth, hardly paying attention to the world. That was normal. What wasn't, was the pile of soil spread across the table.

Keith pointed to the offending mound. 'What's that?'

Lance paused, spoon halfway to his mouth, goo slipping onto the counter.

'Dunno.' He shrugged, resuming his meal. 'Pidge dumped it here, something to do with research.'

Keith nodded, going about getting his breakfast the same as always, flopping down opposite Lance. Now he was settled he could observe the pile more carefully. Dotted through the brown powder was various twigs and stones. One pebble, in particular, stood out. It was smooth and round, white adorned with turquoise veins that made it look like it was covered in dragon scales. Without thinking, Keith reached for it barely looking up as he rolled it towards Lance, continuing his breakfast as if nothing had happened.

The stone hit the others bowl with a twinkling clink, causing him to jump. Lance inspected it before raising an eyebrow, flicking his gaze between Keith and the soil. 'Did you...?'

Keith looked up innocently, having been fully engrossed in his breakfast only seconds before, 'What?'

Lance shook his head, he'd been in space too long. 'Never mind.'

~~><><><><~~  
  
'Did you see that!'

Pidge was flailing her arm, repeatedly hitting Hunk's thigh. 'He didn't even know he did it!'

The two were huddled in the next room, watching the exchange unfold on security footage. Hunk had set up cameras and microphones in the vents above the table, whilst Pidge had procured some dirt and stones from Coran's storage lab.

'Zoom in, zoom in!!' Hunk shook with excitement, eyes glued to the screen. 'I wanna see what stone he picked.'

'Alright two seconds.'

Pidge tapped in some keyboard commands, zooming into the stone and clearing the image. 

Hunk squeaked beside her, jabbing the screen wildly 'that's the one! That's the one I chose!!'

Slapping his hand away before he could break the glass with his ecstasy she yelped, 'Stop that!'

Hunk hung his head in shame uttering a muffled 'sorry,' before shuffled a little further away to prevent himself doing it again, attempting to compose himself.  

'I was just excited because Keith chose my stone to display his affections for Lance.'

His composure was short lived as he an unstoppable smile began trekking across his face. Squeezing his fists to his face, he squealed 'oh god it's just so cute!'

Pidge rolled her eyes but couldn't stop her lips twitching upwards.

'So, what should we do? Should we tell Lance? Get these two dorks together.'

'Are you kidding!?' Pidge spluttered, grabbing the laptop before it fell from her lap. 'I don't think Keith even realises he has a crush on him. He's denser than a black hole.'

Disappointment fell on Hunk like a bucket of cold water. 'But he's doing the whole pebble thing.'

Pidge shook her head, 'He doesn't know it's a thing. Hell, just now, he didn't even notice when he rolled one straight to him!'

Hunks frown grew sadder, like a puppy told they weren't going for a walk.

'Don't worry.' Pidge reassured, a glint flickering into her eye. 'We just have to force him to face his feelings.'

'Ooh puppet master Pidge.’ Hunk grinned, pulling his hands together and tapping his fingers menacingly, ‘I like where this is going.' ~~~~

~~ ><><><><~~ ~~~~

Keith and Lance were bickering. Walking through the Castle's corridors after a heated training session, their petty argument echoed through the walls.

'It's not my fault you're so easily distracted.' Keith smirked, side-eyeing Lance's red face.

'You took me by surprise!' He yelped, limbs flailing in a fluster, 'You can't just jump a guy like that!'

Keith folded his arms, floating up onto his high horse, 'It was a perfectly legal tackle.'

'How would you like it if I- hey are you even listening!?'

Keith had stopped listening. He was distracted by the soft tap of something falling to the floor. Eyes landing on a gemstone that seemed akin to amethyst, he seemed to dissolve into a trance. Ducking down, he picked it up for inspection, holding it to his eye to see the world through a kaleidoscope. And then the world became Lance's distorted face, repeated in various windows.

'Hello? Earth to Keith. Well, space to Kei-' Lance cut himself off as Keith offered the gem forward, small smile tugging on his lips. Lance gave him an unsure look, unable to refuse the sweet face. Turning the stone in his hand, he spoke 'Well this is great and all, but I _was_ talking.'

'Oh.' Keith stared at him as his soul re-entered his body, having been hijacked by a demon with a very specific interest only seconds before. 'Right sorry, what were you saying?'

Lance squinted at him, pocketing the gem. 'You okay, buddy?'

'Yeah, yeah, of course.'

Lance remained unconvinced.

~~><><><><~~

'What are you doing?'

Hunk and Pidge jumped at the voice behind them. They'd been caught hiding around the corner just beyond where Lance and Keith were talking.

'Shush!' Pidge hissed, pulling Allura to the wall alongside her and Hunk. She peered around the corner once again, Hunk poking his head above and Allura following suit.

'Alright they're heading off.' She whispered, turning around only to jump as she realised the other two had been copying her. She shook her head in disappointment, amateurs.

'What's going on?’ Allura demanded ‘Are you trying to avoid Lance and Keith? Have you been arguing?'

'No, we're spying on them.' Hunk replied without thinking. Pidge fired him a warning glare.

'Spying!?' Allura's eyes doubled in size.

'Look it's not _spying_ as such, it's just...' Pidge paused as she thought of a good way to gain a get out of jail free card, 'keeping a watchful eye over them.'

Allura raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she awaited further explanation.

Pidge sighed and considered her options. They could definitely trust Allura with the information, but she could also disapprove of their unorthodox methodology and jeopardise the whole operation.

'Keith has a crush on Lance!' Hunk blurted out before she could decide. He looked down sheepishly, 'I'm sorry but I've been dying to tell someone. Keeping this a secret from Lance is killing me slowly and painfully.'

'Oh! That's wonderful!' Allura clapped in delight. 'But what does that have to do with you,' her next words were said with uncertainty, ‘keeping a watchful eye?'

Pidge gave up on secrecy the moment she learnt Hunk was a blabber mouth, deciding to explain fully 'Because Keith doesn’t know he has a crush on him!'

'Yeah! And we're trying to get him to realise his feelings on his own so he can ask Lance out.'

Allura was stunned for a brief moment, before composing herself, 'then how do you know he likes him?'

'The stones.' They replied in unison. As they did so, the mice leapt from the ceiling, landing gracefully on Hunk's shoulders like they’d just stolen the crown jewels.

'Good job buddies!' He complimented warmly, rubbing one’s head with his finger.

Pidge took the lead in explaining the situation, 'when Keith sees pretty stones, he can't help but give them to Lance.'

'Yeah, just now, we asked the mice to drop one in the hallway in front of them. He picked it right up and gave it to Lance with these gooey, lovestruck eyes, like he was on autopilot or something.'

'Huh.' Allura considered. ‘Like the Galra?’

'Yes, exactly!'

Allura remained deep in thought, 'Although I was a child, I distinctively remember the Galra stone exchanges being short-lived. I assume it was because the event was long established within their community, like how sharing food signifies familial bonds. Perhaps, if Keith continued the exchanges, he’d realise the significance?’

‘Allura.’ Pidge replied, taking her hand between her own and fixing her with a look of determination, ‘You read my mind.’

~~><><><><~~

Things were getting weird. Keith knew that much. It was as if as soon as Lance entered a room his self-control was blasting into space. Keith would be grabbing food from a kitchen cupboard when a gemstone would fall out. Suddenly, he’d be the marionette of a sadistic puppeteer, entranced by the pretty colours mirroring something in his heart he couldn’t place. Then he’d find himself gazing into blue eyes and placing the stone in front of them before whisking back to the counter. Only then would a spark trigger his cheeks to ignite as he realised the horrifyingly strange thing he’d done. He never dared glance back.

Hanging out in the lounge, he’d just be moving a cushion when, bam, was that a piece of bling Keith spotted? Hell yeah it was! Time to make things weird! Two seconds later he’d be smiling down at a confused blue paladin, physically placing a stone in his hand. And once it had been accepted, he felt a sense of warmth bubble in his stomach, a giddiness akin to stepping off a rollercoaster. It would’ve been addictive if it weren’t for the complete horror he’d feel once his mind was his own again. Then, he’d be out the room in a flash, running anywhere that wasn’t Lance.

In the corridor, just walking around, minding his own damn business. It would catch his eye. Winking at him. Flaunting its power. He’d pluck the shine from the skirting board like a magpie and push it into Lance’s hand. Then he’d be released from the almighty power, face falling as he noticed his hand was still lingering on Lance’s and that it was grazing his own lips.

Sweat poured down his face as he yanked his head backwards and dropped Lance’s hand for the fifth time that day.

‘Uhh… thanks dude?’ Lance spoke stiffly. Keith stared at the floor, willing his heart to slow, hell, it could even stop for a few minutes if it meant he didn’t have to live through the embarrassment.

‘Oh is that Hunk?’ Lance asked in an almost panicked tone. ‘Yep, that’s Hunk. That is definitely Hunk. One hunky guy, Hunk. Okay!’

Lance practically yelled the last word, throwing a leg forward, ‘Gotta go to my Hunk. HUNK. Just Hunk, not my…’ Lance cut off his own words with excessively long strides, opting for a swift power walk to make himself disappear form the situation. He was around the corner faster than a bullet.

Keith sighed, falling back against the wall. This was becoming dangerous. He was getting way too friendly with Lance and if he hadn’t noticed his blushes before, they were going to be slapping him across the face any day now. And he was clearly making Lance uncomfortable with this new habit he’d inadvertently developed, even causing him to fake sightings of his own best friend. He groaned, sinking to the floor and hiding his head behind his knees. He had definitely been cursed.

~~><><><><~~  

Lance needed to calm down. After losing his cool at Keith’s ridiculously adorable behaviour he’d spurted some random crap about Hunk before all but sprinting from the corridor, ending up camping out in his room. It was shameful.

He knew Keith wasn’t doing it on purpose and, yet, Lance couldn’t stop making a fuss.  After the initial confusion, he thought he’d adjusted to the little gifts. That’s when he made the mistake of properly engaging with the process. He watched as Keith’s eyes turned soft, his smile became bashful and he made the wonderful addition of his own hand on Lance’s, sparking endless heat through his veins. And then lips touched his skin and he was suddenly on fire, brain ceasing to function as all he could sense was Keith’s light kiss.

Lance vigorously shook his head, standing from his bed. Nope. Keith wasn’t being romantic. He was just being Keith, in all his adorable Galra ways. No. Just Galra ways, he corrected but his mind was already elsewhere. He wanted the touches to linger, the smiles to stretch on, the eyes to draw closer. But, that was out of the question. He and Keith had a good thing going and if he kept reacting like potassium in water, he was going to scare him off. Or make him feel so awkward that the football field distance between them would be back with a vengeance.

Lance needed to distract himself. He marched towards the door, opting to annoy his teammates instead of moping. Yeah, they’d definitely appreciate that.

‘Lance!’

Barely out the door and Shiro was already calling to him, point one to Lance.

‘What’s up?’ He asked, leaning back against his door frame, propping a foot against it in an attempt to look cool.

Shiro raised an eyebrow as he jogged down the rest of the corridor, stopping at Lance’s door.

‘Coran wants to do some analysis on our bayards, check their condition and stuff. Can I get yours?’

‘Yeah sure, it’s on top of my wardrobe.’ Lance gestured to the offending object, taller than both of them and probably able to hide an entire city at its height.

Shiro sighed as he entered Lance’s room. ‘How many times have I told you to keep it within reaching distance? We might need to be out the door in a matter of seconds, I don’t want you messing around trying to find your bayard when we could be saving lives.’

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ Lance sighed. He got Shiro’s point and all, but the man had already voiced his problem with Lance keeping it on the floor as it was a "treading zone" and his bayard could get "broken". So, where exactly was Lance supposed to keep it when all his options were being rejected quicker than an old penny in a vending machine.

Shiro was still reaching around the top of the wardrobe, fingers barely reaching the bayard. ‘Lance, how do you even have this much crap up here.’

The words of sass were on the tip of Lance’s tongue before he had a sudden realisation, brief moment of clairvoyance. An image of impending doom, ‘WAIT!’

It was too late. Shiro had the bayard in his hand but as he pulled it down he clipped something, causing a box to fall. A shoe box to be precise. The very same shoebox Lance had been depositing all of Keith’s stones in. He watched in slow motion as it tumbled to the floor, releasing gems through the air like an upside-down firework.

Shiro’s face fell open at the sight, becoming frozen as he stared at the contents in bewilderment. Lance was frozen too, except for his blood which was boiling as it rushed to his face like a crowd of fans running to their idol. Lance was lost for words. Why did Shiro always have to witness these moments? Moments that could easily be misinterpreted as weird on their own, let alone when they’re connected.

After an agonising moment of freeze frame, Shiro finally spoke. ‘You got a thing for rocks?’

‘NO!’ Lance replied too quickly, barely able to think ahead of defending his dignity, ‘I have a thing for-‘

His blood got impossibly hotter, giving the sun a run for its money, as he grabbed the words preparing to leap from his diving-board tongue. What was he about to admit!?

‘I mean yes, YES. I have a thing for rocks. That’s what I have a thing for. Rocks.’

Lance gave a forced laugh, desperately trying to convey the classic finger wag and words "yeah Shiro, you sure got me, you ol’ devil you". That seemed impossible when his laughs were higher than a piccolo and his breathing matched that of a man who’d run up five flights of stairs. Not to mention he was now sporting a funky new tomato coloured foundation.

Shiro was giving him another one of his looks. The one that said he didn’t understand what was going on but was too scared to find out. Lance had nearly evaporating with the humiliation, little droplets of himself clinging to the ceiling and refusing to let go for eternity.

‘Right.’ Shiro said awkwardly, holding the bayard up and keeping his eyes glued to it instead of Lance or the rocks or anything in the situation really. ‘I’ll go give this to Coran.’

‘Yep, you go do that, I’ll just… deal with my rocks…’ He could practically hear the droplets yelling at him to shut up.

Shiro left, smooth and swift, and as soon as the door was shut, Lance flopped onto the floor with a huge groan. Why? Why did Shiro have to see that? Why did he, himself, almost confess his feelings for Keith? Why was he so incapable of dealing with any situation!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the lovely comments and kudos on chapter 1!! The response has been amazing and I'm giddy :)  
> I really hope this can meet your expectations and, if not, I hope you can still enjoy it! Lots of love ♥


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Keith's gift-giving habit spirals out of control, he attempts hiding from it. However, Lance finds he misses the company. Maybe a harmless training session could bring them back together?

'Hell yeah! Another one of mine!' Pidge whooped as she watched Keith bend down to pick up yet another gem from behind a table leg and passing it to Lance.

Hunk, Allura and herself were huddled around a laptop, secretly watching the video feed of their friends attempted courtship.

Hunk groaned, folding his arms, and speaking bitterly, 'well he would've found more of mine if Allura hadn't called us into training.'

Allura made an offended noise, sticking her nose in the air as she replied, 'We can't afford to fall behind on training just because we are helping our friends get together.'

‘You wouldn't be saying that if he'd actually found yours.' Pidge mumbled, quiet enough to be barely audible but loud enough so that the selected party knew they were being insulted.

Allura glared at her, ‘Mine are well hidden, unlike yours. They’re far too obvious. Keith’s going to realise somethings up.'

The mice squeaked in agreement, the loyal rats.

‘That’s kind of the point though, isn’t it?' Hunk countered, silencing the argument.

They turned to the screen once again seeing Keith's flustered face and Lance's heart eyes as he fell helpless to Keith's soft smiles. Pidge drew a tally on her tablet, much to Allura's disapproval.

'What!? It'll keep us motivated.'

~~><><><><~~

To Keith's utter dismay, the stones kept haunting him. Waiting in cupboards, lying on door panels, sitting on chairs and always laughing at him. And Lance was there every single time, receiving each one like he was collecting all five colours. Keith’s sanity was wearing thin.

At the same time the tallies were growing longer, the popcorn getting tastier and the cheers getting louder. The gem-hiding group were addicted, gathering every evening to watch the drama unfold. At this point, the stones were barely hidden, they may as well have been creating a trail like Hansel and Gretel. And yet, nobody seemed any closer to confessing.

~~><><><><~~

Keith had resorted to hiding. He wasn’t proud. But, he was a weak man. A weak, _weak_ man who’s crush had spun so far out of control it had taken on a life of its own. It was playing with Keith, like a cat playing with a half dead bird and, honestly, it could very well kill him. This was for his own safety. And that’s how he ended up with his back against the breakfast bar, crouched like a ninja and breath held.

Footsteps padded around the kitchen, pulling crockery from cupboards and cutlery from drawers. For all he knew, the footsteps could belong to an old, Altean man who harboured nothing but kindness towards all who entered his orbit. But, there was still a paper-thin chance that it could be Lance. Or the devil himself, placing demonic stones on the counter like Satan’s mince pies ready to possess Keith. Clearly, this was not a risk worth taking.

And so, he remained listening to the shadow go about their life none the wiser whilst his heart was doing its best to break free from its cage and force him into fight or flight. Hiding wasn’t exactly a viable option for someone who couldn’t sit still. He was under siege.

‘You want any food, Keith?’

Dammit. And he’d been so stealthy. Slowly, he tilted his head upwards until his eye’s met Hunk's expectant ones. He was leaning over the bar with his head in his hand admiring the top of Keith’s head.

‘No,' Keith replied, with the confidence of a snail recently plucked from its plant pot home, 'I’m good.’

‘Great! ‘cos I already made you a milkshake.’

Keith frowned, standing up to see that Hunk, had indeed, made him a milkshake. It sat alongside his own in a tall glass, topped with whipped cream and something that looked like a cross between a lychee and a pineapple. Keith took it hesitantly.

‘So, something interesting on the floor?’ Hunk asked between slurps.

Keith took a sip of his own, the sweet flavour like strawberries and bananas, distracting him from his anxieties and better judgement. ‘No, not really.’

‘You avoiding someone?’

Keith inhaled suddenly, simultaneously choking on his drink and developing brain freeze. Hunk laughed whilst the other spluttered and winced as his brain punished him for his ice-based gluttony.

‘Thought so.’ Hunk mused.

Pink rose in Keith’s cheeks although he couldn’t pinpoint the cause given the flurry of events that had fallen upon him.

‘Listen, buddy.’

Hunk brought a hand onto his shoulder, smiling warmly and almost knowingly. ‘You have nothing to fear, trust me.’

Keith blinked as Hunk released him, sweeping out the kitchen along with his milkshake and other-worldly wisdom. What could Hunk be talking about? He sunk into his thoughts, finishing the milkshake at a more appropriate pace. Hunk was probably just reassuring him that the team accepted his strange Galra behaviours, gem obsession and all. Right?

~~><><><><~~

The door to the study slammed open, Lance making a dramatic entrance as he announced, ‘I’m bored!’

Pidge glared at him before returning to her keyboard and ignoring his outburst. ‘That’s a shame.’

Lance continued into the room anyway, sighing heavily before slopping over Hunk’s back like one of Salvador’s clocks. ‘I miss Keith.’

‘Uhh he hasn’t gone anywhere buddy,’ Hunk replied in confusion, reaching back to pat blindly at the lump that was currently dropping his dead weight over him.

‘But I haven’t seen him in aaages. It’s like he’s avoiding me or something.’

‘Wonder why he’d do that.’ Pidge said flatly, eyeing how he was crushing Hunk with his melodramatics.

‘Huuunk’ Lance moaned, sliding down to the floor, ‘Do you think he finds me annoying? Do you think he wants to stop being friends?’

Hunk reached down to ruffle Lance’s hair, ‘Of course not buddy!’

‘Yeah that’s just us.’ Pidge added with a smirk. Lance pouted.

‘Then why has he stopped hanging out with me?’

Hunk gave Pidge a struggled look. Pidge shook her head, she was sure they were close to breaking Keith, Hunk couldn’t let it slip at this stage. The operation was hanging in the balance, Hunk opening his mouth, the words being generated right in front of Pidge’s eyes. Just as the first syllable left his mouth, Pidge spluttered her own suggestion.

‘Keith’s-‘

‘Ask him to train with you!’

Lance blinked up at her. Yes! She’d won his attention!

‘C’mon, when has Keith ever refused training?’ she cajoled.

Lance thought for a second, seeming to perk up. ‘That’s not a bad idea.’

‘I think you’ll find it’s a great idea,’ Pidge insisted.

Lance sprang up from the floor, energy back like a freshly charged torch. ‘Yeah, I think I’ll do that! Thanks Pidge!’

Pidge grinned as he practically skipped from the room, excited bubbles lightening his step. Hunk squinted at her.

‘This would be over a lot quicker if we just told him.’

Pidge sighed, ‘Listen, I know you want to tell him. But, if we tell Lance that Keith likes him, and he decides to ask him out while Keith still hasn’t realised his feelings it won’t have a pretty ending.’

Hunk frowned, ‘I guess I hadn’t thought about that…’

‘But,’ Pidge added, determined to prove her plan was for the best, ‘he’s gonna work it out eventually, we’ve just got to give him a little more time.’

Hunk nodded, seeming a little more satisfied with their decision. Pidge hoped Keith would work things out soon, she wasn’t sure how much longer Hunk could last.

~~><><><><~~

‘Hey man, wanna go train together?’

Lance was stood nervously at Keith’s door awaiting response, shoulders hunched and eyes hopeful.

Keith was reluctant. Usually, he wouldn’t even hesitate. Training? Lance? He’d be out the door quicker than a roadrunner. But the stones had him on edge. Surely, they couldn’t have infiltrated the training room? There was a limit to ridiculousness, right?

‘It’s cool if you don’t wanna…’ Lance’s words were sure but the way he looked at the ground and fiddled with his fingers said otherwise.

‘Yes!’ Keith yelped before he could control himself, were the stones even necessary anymore? ‘I mean, yeah, sure, I’ll train with you.’

Lance beamed, releasing almost blinding light. ‘Awesome!’

~~><><><><~~

Entering the training room, Keith cast suspicious eyes across the landscape until he deemed it safe. Lance didn’t seem to notice, heading straight to the simulator panels. Barriers rose from the floor to serve as cover.

‘What training did you have in mind?’

‘Moving target practice.’

Keith raised an eye-brow, ‘Isn’t that kind of specific to you, y’know, being a marksman and all?’

‘That is where you’re wrong young Keith.’ Lance crossed the room, opening a wall panel and lifting out two infra-red training guns. ‘If we lose our bayards we’ll need to use any Galra weapons we can salvage and those tend to be guns.’

Passing a laser gun to Keith, he showed him how to shoot as well as aim, stepping closer than necessary. Keith couldn’t tell if he could feel the heat from Lance’s face or if it was just his own skin burning hotter than the sun.

‘Got it?’

Keith had barely been listening, brain having short-circuited from the attention. He nodded sharply in attempt to pull himself off cloud nine.

‘Good.’ Lance replied before leaning in impossibly closer, he wore a smirk that mesmerised Keith, so much so he didn’t notice the gun on his chest or the trigger being pressed.

‘Woohoo!’ The cheer erupted right in Keith’s ear. ‘One point to Lance!’

Keith grimaced as the other danced away in glee, running for cover on the other side of the room.

‘How does that count!? I didn’t even know we’d started!’

Lance threw his head back over his shoulder, winking at Keith ‘All’s fair in love and space war!’

The kettle had boiled, and Keith was ready for blood. He ran after Lance, rolling behind cover when he caught a glimpse of the laser gun poking around a wall up ahead. His heart was racing as he fell into step with the battle, weaving around the walls and taking sneaky shots between. He had missed most of the first shots, but as the fight drew on, his aim steadily improved. Now he was able to land a few hits on Lance even if he did bear the brunt of the others. Serves him right for playing against a, self-proclaimed, sharpshooter.

Now, crouched near the centre of the room, he finally had a clear shot, aiming straight for Lance’s chest. He clicked the trigger, but the familiar register on Lance’s suit didn’t appear. Pressing repeatedly, a sinking feeling drew through his stomach. Lance hadn’t mentioned anything about running out of ammunition.

‘Oh?’

Shit. Lance’s eagle eyes had noticed the struggle, had realised the shots weren’t having any effect. Had sensed Keith’s doom.

‘What’s the matter Keith? Am I too good-looking to shoot?’

Keith groaned as the other pulled an over-the-top, shojo manga pose.

‘C’mon Keith, I’m right here.’ He began sliding back and forth across the room like a crab. ‘Shoot me.’

‘Believe me, I want to.’

Lance laughed, ‘Fine, find a different way to catch me.’

He winked before beginning to run backwards, cheeky grin pulling up his face. ‘C’mon samurai, I’m way over he-AH!’

A second later Lance was on the floor, legs in the air having landed heavily on his coccyx. ~~~~

'Lance!'

Keith threw down his weapon and ran full pelt to the fallen paladin, dropping to his side. ‘Are you alright!?’

Lance nodded, wincing as he sat up and rubbed his lower back, 'yeah I'm fine.'

'What the hell happened?!' ~~~~

'How am I supposed to know!' Lance squawked, 'I must have slipped on something!'

'On what Lance?' Keith scoffed, gesturing to the room and casting his eyes around as he spoke. 'People don't just leave things hanging around in here, it's danger-'

He stopped as his eyes landed on the guilty object. A marble was lying a fair distance away from them, still rolling from when it had been trodden on. In a trance, he abandoned Lance, plucking it from the floor before returning. He crouched back down beside him, smiling warmly as he offered out the gift.

'I don't want that!’ Lance yelped, jolting away from the offending sphere. ‘It nearly killed me!'

Keith’s face fell, eyes big enough to hold planets. He looked as if he’d been told his kitten was ill and there was nothing that could be done to save it. Lance immediately felt awful, grasping at the strings of his mind to pull together a sentence. But it was too late, Keith was turning away, marble falling to the floor.

'Sorry, no, of course you don't...' He trailed off, despondent.

Deafening silence fell over the room. That was until Lance heard a sniff. Stealing a glance at Keith’s face, his heart wrenched horribly in his chest. The dark eyes were filling with unshed tears.

'No, no! I'll take the marble!' He rushed, eager to get Keith's attention. 'C'mon give me the marble! Keith? Please?'

Keith slowly turned his head back to Lance, staring at his apologetic features. He shook his head quickly, suddenly wiping his eyes and clambering to his feet. 'Sorry. Th-that was stupid. I, uh, I need to go.'

Keith legged it from the room, refusing to look back as Lance called after him in a daze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thanks for all the comments and kudos!! They mean so much to me!! ♥  
> I was lucky enough to have a couple snow days this week so, obviously, I worked on this rather than uni stuff ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Thanks for reading!~


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A distressed Keith seeks advice from Shiro, causing a chain reaction that leads to the mystery of his behaviour being revealed.

'I don't know what to do Shiro.'

Keith was pacing back and forth across Shiro's room whilst the other sat on his bed, offensively calm.

'What's wrong, Keith?'

'The stones!' He yelled, grabbing at his hair in an attempt to rip his brain apart trying to understand what was going on, 'everytime I see a damn stone I'm on it in seconds and passing it to Lance without even thinking. Why can't I stop!?'

He resumed his pacing, scraping a hand through his hair. Shiro frowned.

'Let me get this straight,' His voice was patient but not without a heavy dosing of confusion. 'You keep giving stones to Lance but you're not doing it on purpose? And it’s upsetting you?'

'YES!' Keith cried. 'This is humiliating.'

Taking a break from pacing in favour of burying his face in his hands, he sank to the floor. 'How does the castle even have this many stones?'

'Okay buddy,' Shiro's calming voice came closer and a gentle hand came to rest on his back.

Keith looked up at him with a pained expression. 'He's going to find out.'

Shiro hesitated, 'find out what?'

'That I like him!' He sprang back up, resuming his pacing. 'Oh god this is so bad. These stupid rocks! Why can't I stop!? He's gonna think I'm a complete weirdo and then he's gonna think I'm a complete weirdo with a weird-ass crush and then he's gonna hate me even more and-'

'Okay stop!' Shiro brought a hand in front of Keith before he could dig a trench in the floor.

Keith looked at him with a face covered in cities of anxiety and skyscrapers of fear that continued construction within him as he desperately searched for answers.

'Keith.’ Shiro began, voice steady and reassuring, the only rock Keith wanted in his life at this point, ’Lance is never going to hate you. Especially not over something stupid like rocks.'

Keith gulped, nodding silently.

'I'm not sure what's going on with these stones or whatever but maybe you should talk to Lance about how you feel?'

'Oh no,' Keith backed away, shaking his head violently, 'I am not doing that. No way.'

Shiro sighed at the retreating figure. 'Keith. Hiding how you feel isn't healthy. You should be open with him.'

'He'll hate me!' Keith yelled, 'Or he'll start avoiding me! Or never speak to me again!’

Shiro took a step forward, trying to sound firm, 'That's not going to happen.'

'You don't know that!'

'Keith.’ Shiro’s voice was even, words full of care ‘Just trust me.'

Keith made a pained noise, squeezing his fists in frustration. ‘Argh it’s just too big a risk!’

He stamped towards the door, slamming it behind him and stalking back to his room.

~~><><><><~~

'Oh no.'

Once again, Hunk, Pidge and Allura were huddled in the green lion’s hangar, popcorn strewn across the floor and tally charts open in front of them. As usual, they were watching the footage of the day, only this tape left a sour taste in their mouth.

They watched as the mice lowered themselves down from the ceiling like jewel-thieves on a heist, clutching a smooth stone. Whilst Lance had stilled to tease Keith, the marble tumbled to the floor, awaiting its moment in the spotlight when one would turn and notice it. But Lance was on the move again, baiting Keith. The marble was now directly behind him, shivering in the shadows. The onlookers held baited breath, hoping Keith would approach him, notice the orb and prevent any injury. Only Lance decided to change tactic at the last minute, charging backwards. His foot landed directly on the sphere causing him to plummet to the ground. At his side in a second, Keith finally set eyes on the marble, far too late. Rising to fetch it from across the floor the group watched in horror as Keith held it out, face full of love and innocence whilst Lance smacked it away, refusing to look. The pure adoration fell. The marble fell. The hearts fell. Keith’s eyes were dripping, Lance was becoming desperate and the viewers were numb.

'Did you see Keith's face? 'Hunk asked in disbelief, turning to the others who mirrored his shocked expression.

Allura nodded solemnly, as Pidge replied in a small voice, 'It looked like his heart had been ripped in two.'

Silence fell over the group as they reflected on the images, breaking only when a cough sounded behind them. The group froze.

Hunk shivered as they turned reluctantly to face the wrath they were bound to receive. Shiro stood in the doorway arms crossed and expression stern.

'Keith came to my room this afternoon very upset about some stones, care to tell me why?'

Pidge gulped, Hunk's features immediately filled with guilt and Allura bowed her head sheepishly.

'Well...'

'Remember on Lasalis, when Keith kept collecting pebbles?' Hunk burst, his secrets finally overflowing from the jar.

Shiro nodded vaguely, the image of Lance stuffing his pockets with rocks filling his mind.

'Well, we did a little research and found out that the Galra give stones to the person they like.'

At this point, Pidge decided to jump in and share the fall adding,  'We wanted to test our theory so put some stones out and lo and behold Keith gave them straight to Lance.’

'The only problem was, he was completely unaware of it,' Hunk lowered his head sadly.

Allura took over, concluding their confession, 'So, we thought, if he kept finding stones and giving them to Lance he might make the connection and start a relationship.'  

Shiro sighed, rubbing his temples 'Guys, this is cruel.'

The three lowered their heads like children who had been caught stealing biscuits from the tin.

'He's going out of his mind trying to work out why he can't stop finding stones everywhere and why he can't stop giving them to Lance.'

Allura nodded, 'Maybe, it did get a little out of hand.'

'We should tell him.' Hunk declared, determination on his face like a hamster trying to get through the bars of its cage with cheeks full of peanuts.

'No!' Pidge cried, ‘If he found out that we all knew about his crush he would probably lock himself in his room for eternity or train until he became a sweaty pile of flesh.'

The group went quiet once again, realising they'd backed themselves into a corner.

Finally, Allura spoke ‘I think I have a way we can make him find out on his own.'

~~><><><><~~

After his panicked conversation with Shiro, Keith had shut himself in his room for the rest of the evening, skipping dinner in favour of wallowing in his pitiful emotions. Now it was a morning later and he was starving, the only force able to rip him from sulking: hunger. Still, he was stubbornly avoiding Lance, so he waited until his stomach was turning inside out before he left his room.

It was ridiculous. Nothing had really happened, yet, every thought of Lance had the chains on his heart constricting. He felt rejected. Ironic for someone actively avoiding their feelings like a game of dodgeball to bypass that exact outcome. But when Lance pushed away the marble, it felt like he’d been dropped off a cliff into a vast lake before being crushed by a massive landslide. Now he just felt like an idiot.

First of all, why the hell would Lance want a marble that damn-near killled him? That would be like asking your murderer to leave the knife in so you could be buried with the momento.

Secondly, he hadn’t even confessed his crush on him so there was no reason for his heart to ache like it had been tossed around by the national rugby team.

And last of all, he was drowning in all these feelings because of a quiznakking marble. A metamorphic rock that couldn’t care less about the turmoil it caused Keith. Everything that happened to him in the last day was stupid and made no sense on any level. There must’ve been a bug in the program of his life. But, telling himself all of this still didn’t stop his heart aching. Or his stomach rumbling. He groaned before finally dragging himself to the kitchen.

He was in luck. It was late morning, so his teammates had already finished their breakfasts and had left the room empty. One win to Keith.

‘Keith!’

He knew it couldn’t last.

Allura walked into the kitchen face set in determination meaning whatever she wanted to happen was going to happen, Keith had no room to refuse. Great.

‘Keith, I need you to look over Pidge’s notes on Galra behaviour. I want to see how accurate you think the points are so that we may keep our data one-hundred percent accurate.’

Keith nodded curtly, leading her to explain where the notes were before she left him to finish his food in peace.

Keith found the encyclopaedia article on Pidge’s workstation easily and began carefully reading the print. Entries included research into food sources, diagrams of anatomy and images of common habitats, all things Pidge couldn’t have added to, but Keith was too engrossed to care, eager to learn about his ancestry. Moving onto social behaviours he ended up on the courtship rituals section.

‘When approaching someone they would like to court, a Galra will use decorative pebbles as a gift.’

A lump formed in his throat. He read it again, hoping it was a mistake, but the words remained the same. His blood was suddenly lava, heat scraping at the inside of his skin making him want to rip it off. He was mortified. It had to be wrong, a coincidence maybe? He kept reading, hoping for the best but fearing the worst.

‘The other has two choices: accept the pebble, and thus accept the confession forming a bond with the other. Or, they can simply reject the gift to reject the presenter.’

Keith slammed his hands onto the desk, shoving the seat back with enough force to set off a sonic boom. Red-faced and barely able to breathe he stiffly left the room, aiming to get as far away from his embarrassment as possible. He had confessed to Lance. And he’d been rejected. And he had been completely clueless the entire time.

This was a whole new level of humiliation he hadn’t even realised existed. His only solace was that Lance had no idea either.

~~><><><><~~

‘Yo, whatchu makin’?’

Lance swung into the kitchen where Hunk was removing a new concoction from the oven. It smelt divine, like a warm home and dreams. Lance was loopy for it, leaning over the others shoulder for a bigger inhalation. Hunk swept the tray away from his prying nose.

‘Wha-! Hunk,’ Lance moaned, following him as he made his way to the table, ‘Let me have a sniff.’

Hunk glared at him, effectively paralysing Lance. Hunk never glared. What was happening?

He edged closer, picking his words carefully, ‘So, what did you make?’

‘Cookies.’ Hunk snapped, the word not suiting the tone.

‘Can I have one?’

Hunk fixed him with a look, one that told him he should know the answer. Lance gulped. ‘Okay... who are they for then?’

‘Keith.’

Lance was appalled. ‘Why does Keith get cookies!?’

‘Because, Keith deserves cookies.’ Hunk said, matter-of-factly.

‘And how come I don’t!?’

Hunk turned to him, honest and open, ‘Keith’s my friend.’

His words were firm, as if this somehow explained everything, but it only confused Lance more.

He mumbled a ‘I never said he wasn’t,’ before trying to pluck a disk from the tray but Hunk slapped his hand away.

‘Hey! I’ll make you cookies when you deserve them and, right now, you don’t.’

He didn’t deserve cookies now? What was Hunk on about? Did he know something Lance didn’t?

‘Is Keith upset or something?’ Lance asked, genuine concern painted on his features. Hunk immediately melted at the sight.

‘N-no! Well, I mean...’ He trailed off, thoughts at war with one another. Sighing, he spoke softly ‘I just think he deserves some cookies, okay?’

Lance nodded. Hunk was a good friend and clearly protecting Keith, it wouldn’t be fair to push him further. And he had a feeling his disappearance might have something to do with how they ended training the day before. He’d have to go check on the mullet himself.

~~><><><><~~

‘Pidge!’

Lance swerved from his march to check-in with the green paladin who was holed up in the lounge, barely visible behind the laptop balanced on her knees.

‘You haven’t happened to have seen Keith around, have you?’

Barely audible, she mumbled under her breath, ‘With any luck he’ll be at my workstation.’

‘What?’ Lance asked, leaning further into the room.

She heaved a dramatic sigh almost causing the laptop to fall, ‘I wanted him to read over the notes I added to the Galra information scripts in my Lion Hangar but he’s probably just off brooding somewhere.’

Lance nodded in understanding, Keith did enjoy a good brood. However, he also took defeating the Galra empire seriously, maybe even too seriously at times. It seemed natural for Lance’s next stop to be Pidge’s workstation.

~~><><><><~~

The Hangar was empty, of course. Aside from the omnipresent giant robotic lion, but that was a given, where else could it fit? Lance sighed, considering his next move. He turned to leave when the still-glowing monitor caught his eye. Hadn’t Pidge said something about information on Galra? It wouldn’t do any harm to have a quick look, maybe it could even tell him some common brooding spots for moody Galra.

Pulling the chair around he began reading the open article. His heart stopped.

Courtship?

Stones?

Keith.

It was all falling into place.

Lance’s face turned pink. How had he not seen it coming? Lance prided himself on being the romantic of the ship and, yet, he couldn’t even detect when Keith had been flirting with him!? Sure, it was by gifting him stones and then performing a disappearing act but the signs were still there. The sweet smiles, soft touches, nervous energy. Lance had been so caught up in trying to prevent his own feelings spill into the real world he hadn’t even noticed the others bursting out like a fountain. He felt a little giddy. Keith liked him back. Excitement sparked in his veins, rushing to his head and swirling the dust in his mind into thoughts of closeness, kisses and Keith. Then the image of pooling eyes came to the forefront, the rest collapsing to the ground.

Oh god.

He’d rejected him. Completely by accident, of course! But, still, he had. Letting out a groan, Lance fell forward onto the desk with a thump. How could he even begin to fix this mess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for your lovely response!! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy (◕ᴗ◕✿)   
> Next chapter will be the finale!! (TT⌓TT) But I've also got an idea for an epilogue floating around so I think I'll add a lil bonus chapter too~  
> THANKS FOR READING ♥


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armed with his recent discovery, Lance seeks out Keith to fix his earlier mistake.

Lance had a plan.

Entering the Castle’s laboratory, he gazed around the messy room full of glass vials, suspicious petri dishes, and unmarked specimens. Coran was staring up at a large cabinet covered in hundreds of square shaped drawers, deep in-thought as he clutched a bushel of yellowed grass.

‘Hey Coran.’

‘Oh, Lance!’ Coran hopped around to face the paladin, face glowing with a grin ‘Here to help me sort out the research lab?’

Lance rubbed his neck as guilt flooded his veins, ‘Uh not today, sorry.’

Maybe he should help out more?

Coran frowned slightly before perking up once again with extra vigour, ‘So then, what brings you down here?’

‘It’s kind of an odd request…’ Lance mumbled, shifting his weight between his legs as if standing on a perpetually off-balance seesaw.

‘No need to be embarrassed my boy,’ Coran announced, dropping a hand over the other’s shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze, ‘what is it you require? Need some tweegol for a case of the ol’ Greborian coagulated stomach?’

Lance violently shook his head. Not a single cell in his body wanted to know what a ‘coagulated stomach’ was.

‘N-No! I’m not ill.’ Lance insisted, backing away. ‘I was just wondering if you had any gemstones down here?’

‘Gemstones, huh?’ Coran mused, moving to the far end of the room and pulling open a wide drawer. ‘That seems to be a rather a popular request as of late.’

Shifting through the drawer he gave a sigh as his efforts came up fruitless, ‘I’ll just check in the back.’

Lance fidgeted the whole time Coran was gone, unable to calm his twitching nerves. Approaching one of the tables, he figured the assortment of science equipment would be a decent distraction. This was going perfectly fine, the intricate design of the various microscopes filling the worried spaces of his mind. That was until his eyes landed on what was sitting beyond the lense. A frog-like creature with legs pinned to a piece of wood was sprawled underneath like a museum piece, insides on show for all to see. Lance gagged, dragging himself away with a queasy stomach. Safe to say, this was one of Lance’s worst ideas.

Settling on a stool his thoughts returned to Keith once again. His leg began bouncing up and down as he began to worry. What would he do if Coran couldn’t find any stones for him? He had to make it up to Keith somehow. Rejection wasn’t a great feeling. Kind of one of the worst, actually. Comparable to reaching in and releasing your heart like a butterfly only to be told you needed to put it back but now your hands were sporting gloves of barbed wire and your chest had morphed into an impenetrable fortress, cannons set to kill. Maybe Keith wouldn’t even want to see him? Maybe he’d reject him back to teach him a lesson? Maybe-

‘You’re in luck!’

Lance whipped around to see Coran gliding back into the room, clutching a small blue chest. He set it on the table in front of them, clicking the latch and peeling open the lid to reveal a box glowing full of treasure.

‘Coran,’ Lance breathed, ‘this is perfect!’

Diving into the colourful treasure-trove, he started picking out his favourites whilst scraping down to the base for more hidden gems. Coran swelled with pride, pulling on his lapels.

‘You are very welcome my boy, take whatever you need.’

Lance nodded barely sparing him a glance as he become fully engrossed in the job at hand. He ended up spending upwards of an hour deciding which to take. In his defence, they needed to be perfect and that meant careful consideration of each individual, one little scratch and they were tossed out, no better than trash. This was Lance’s one and only chance to win Keith back, he couldn’t ruin it with sub-par gifts. Finally, having gathered his top five he began tugging them into his jacket pocket.

‘Coran, have you-’

Lance froze, head turning like a rusted robot. His eyes locked with Shiro’s. Paralysed, he watched in terror as Shiro’s gaze trailed from the chest of stones to the ones lying free on the table, lingering for a torturous few seconds before finally landing on the guilty hand attached to his mortified body.

‘For fu- SHIRO, I SWEAR TO GOD… I’M not… haven’t got a… IT’S JUST A COINCIDENCE!’

Shiro smirked whilst Lance’s face lit up like a lantern. He shrugged, ‘I wasn’t going to say anything.’

‘But you were thinking!’ Lance shouted, throwing an accusatory finger at him.

Shiro raised his arms in surrender, laughter falling off his lips, ‘Relax, Lance. Nothing wrong with harbouring a little affection.’

Lance stuck steadfast to the offence, exploding with embarrassment ‘I DON’T HARBOUR AFFECTION FOR ROCKS, OKAY!? NO KINKS, NO BACK-ALLEY LOVE AFFAIRS, NO UNSAVOURY ‘THINGS’.’

Shiro nodded, infuriatingly wide grin now smothering his face, ‘I know.’

Lance squinted at him, hesitant to reply with the way Shiro so easily agreed without even attempting to tease Lance further. He slowly stood up straight, drawing out a long ‘Good.’

Shiro continued to smile widely, halo glowing above his head. It caused the bugs underneath Lance’s skin to start to wiggle, making him shudder. He cast him a last look of suspicion before snatching the last stone from the table top and marching out the room like a speedboat powered by embarrassment.

As he left he heard a muffled question from Coran followed by Shiro’s ‘No, it’s not the stones he has affection for,’ before he was out of ear-shot and beet red. Body on fire, he considered whether it was dangerous that he hadn’t pulled the alarm yet.

~~><><><><~~

Armed with pebbles, Lance set out on his quest to find Keith. He’d already checked his room, the lion hangars, the training deck, and the lounge as well as asked every single living organism he came into contact with whether or not they’d seen him. All leads had come up short. That’s when he decided to bring in the big guns.

Allura stood at the helm of the ship and, at Lance’s request, had generated a floor plan of the castle for him to inspect. He skimmed over the room names including kitchen, dining room, sleeping quarters, etc. but nothing was screaming Keith. He knew he liked quiet but that didn’t really narrow down his options when they were floating in the ominous vacuum of space. He stepped around to look at the next side, hoping something would call out to him or else he’d end up having to search every single room. Knowing Keith, he’d make him do that. Hold on, what if Keith was moving around, purposefully sending Lance on a wild goose chase? He groaned; this alien boy was going to be the death of him. Just as he was about to give up, a label caught his eye.

‘Hey Allura,’ He asked, leaning closer to the map to scrutinise the offending room, ‘what’s The Old Library?’

‘Oh that?’ Allura asked, happy to be of help, ’It’s an old room where we keep physical copies of the Castle’s data and records. It’s so that, should there be a malfunction, important information won’t be lost and that the ship can be fixed using physical copies of the manual.’

Lance nodded, deep in thought, ‘so, it’s pretty quiet up there?’

‘I’d say so,’ Allura replied, ‘there’s no extra computer equipment and it’s mostly filled with books so there should be less buzzing than in any other room on the ship.’

A small smile crept onto Lance’s lips. Quiet, basic and unheard of? He’d found Keith.

~~><><><><~~

The library was bigger than Lance expected. Sprawling over two floors, it was filled with hundreds of bookcases stacked with thousands of old books and scrolls, all surrounding centralised work stations. Given more time, Lance would probably want to explore the maze but, right now, he was on a mission.

Arriving at the outer edge, he looked up to see a large window cut into the wall and circling over-head into a globe, revealing a clear view of the expanse of space. A mezzanine protruded below it, lifting old-fashioned telescopes into the loft like a Victorian observatory. The window continued down the wall until it hit each step leading up to the look-out. And sat half-way down was a black-haired boy, staring out at the stars, completely unaware of Lance’s mystified gaze. Keith was beautiful, silhouetted by the colourful galaxies that looked like spilt sherbet across the dark sky. His hair shone with the silver glow of the Library’s moon-like lamps and his reflected eyes glittered with the stars hiding behind them.

Lance approached silently, placing each foot with purpose, able to feel each bone touch the floor as he rolled from heel to toe. Ending up by Keith’s side whilst still on the floor below, his eyes just peeked over the step to observe Keith’s complete unawareness of his presence.

Reaching into his pocket he lightly placed a golden yellow stone on the step in front of him. It had leopard spots and a finish like it been dipped in honey. Giving it a gentle push, he sent it rolling into Keith’s thigh.

Keith flinched, brushing at his leg but never tearing his gaze from the stars. Lance pouted, begrudgingly setting up a second stone. He took a moment to appreciate the deep indigo colour with glittering silver and pink sparkles wading through it. Then he flicked it over to the other one, the tap finally gaining Keith’s attention. He glanced down to find gems lying at his side. Eyebrows knotting, he followed their path until his eyes landed on the beaming perpetrator. 

Lance had finally caught his attention, and it was time to start reeling him in. Adjusting his eyebrows into a characteristically suave position he gained a mischievous glint in his eye before speaking.

‘Keith,’ He began, voice clear but not without the hint of an unreleased chuckle surrounding it. ‘You really rock my world.’

Lance was barely able to contain his laughter having finally got to voice the line he’d spent all afternoon preparing.

‘Are you making fun of me?’

Lance’s face fell. That was not the response he had been aiming for. He was met with a deathly glare only weakened by flaming cheeks (and beautiful scenery). Lance began to panic, struggling for words.

‘N-n-n-no!! No! I’m not! I wasn’t! I wouldn’t!’

He rushed to the steps, climbing up as soon as they were short enough and running until he could sit at Keith’s side. Grabbing another stone from his pocket, he took Keith’s hand and placed the burgundy oval directly onto his palm, closing his fingers around it. Keith seemed hesitant, so Lance pushed it towards him, urging Keith to accept it. Once he finally did, Lance watched with his breath held as the other slowly opened his palm to reveal the stone. With a small smile painted on his face, he began tracing over the shades swirling through the surface like a whirlpool.

Lance let out a relieved breath. Composing himself once again, he bowed his head forward ready for his sincere apology, 'I'm really sorry for rejecting your stone. I had no idea what it meant.’

Keith’s eye’s doubled in size, whipping around to present Lance with the face of someone who’d been revising German and just discovered their exam was French. ‘Y-You, you mean you, you know what it means?’

Lance nodded, revealing a golden sunrise smile with cloud cheeks tinted rose, ‘I like you too.’

Keith’s brain short-circuited. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he fumbled for words, cheeks red like a pepper. Lance chuckled, bumping their shoulders together.

‘So, you gonna accept my pebble? Because I’ve got, like, two left and I can always go see if Coran wants to give it a go?’

Keith laughed, initial fear fading from his eyes. He looked at Lance wearing a precious smile and locked his warm eye’s onto his, ‘Of course.’

Lance’s grin was cut short as Keith dived in and captured his lips in a sweet kiss. Lance’s brain went into overdrive, screaming at how Keith, KEITH, was kissing him. The soft press was just beginning to disappear when Lance finally regained control of his muscles. He grabbed the back of Keith’s head, pulling him in for another, more vigorous kiss, refusing to let his newly gained heat be stolen. Keith’s hand ventured around his waist, pressing delicately at his back and igniting a firework that sent sparks crashing through his body. He pressed closer, falling victim to the soft pressure returned to him as he melted into the kiss. His senses became filled with Keith; his skin, his warmth, his lips. Just him.

Pulling away, he didn’t get very far, fingers still tangled in the hair at Keith’s nape whilst an arm cradled his back. Neither were willing to let go just yet, wanting nothing more than to bask in the other’s company as their cheeks glowed and nervous laughter fell from their lips.

‘We should go tell the others,’ Lance said without conviction.

‘Yeah,’ Keith agreed, leaning closer, ‘we should.’

Falling into another kiss, neither made an attempt to leave as the magnetised air kept them firmly together, the soft movements of each other’s lips irresistible. It was only when Lance’s stomach rumbled, that the moment was ruined. Keith pulled away, unable to stop laughing. Lance noted that the noise was so much sweeter when experienced at close range. He would have appreciated it more if he wasn’t a little embarrassed at the noise and a lot more annoyed that their lips were no longer connected.

‘I think it’s time to find the others,’ Keith said, shuffling back and making a move to stand up.

Lance pouted but another rumble sent him scrambling to his feet. ‘Alright, point made.’

He grabbed Keith’s hand, dragging them back into the castle, away from their other-worldly hideaway.

~~><><><><~~

‘You guys!’ Hunk cooed as Keith and Lance entered the meeting room hand in hand.

Pidge eyed the adjoined hands before smirking up at them from where she sat at the table, ‘Took you long enough.’

Shiro walked in behind them, hearing the commotion. He gave a knowing smile to Keith, immediately causing another flood of red to crash onto his cheeks. Giving his shoulder a quick squeeze, he added ‘I’m very happy for the two of you.’

Allura looked up from shuffling documents, clocking onto their blushing faces as coos filled the room. Unable to hide her smile, she offered a ‘Congratulations!’ before continuing her work.

‘Okay guys,’ Hunk grabbed the tray lying on the table, thrusting it forward as he continued to beam with the recent news, ‘come have some celebratory cookies from Hunk’s kitchen.’

Everyone eagerly accepted, the number of cookies halving in an instant. Lance hung back, eyeing his friend suspiciously.

‘You’ve changed your tune, I thought I wasn’t allowed cookies?’

‘Well y’know’ Hunk rubbed at his neck looking at the ceiling, ‘that was back when you rejected Keith and his face went all teary and sad, and it looked like his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. I just wanted him to be happy…’ Hunk trailed off, nearly tearing up at the thought of a heart-broken Keith and his distraught eye’s.

‘Wait, how did you kn-?’

‘Paladins!’ Coran burst into the room, trampling over Lance’s suspicions. Dropping a heavy-looking box on the table with a thud, he stood at the head of the table with triumph.

The paladins stared at the new addition; a worn chest that looked like it was made of old copper. Hunk poked at it whilst Pidge leaned up on the table to get a closer look asking ‘What’s with the box?’

‘Ah! Good question number five.’

The group gathered around as Coran reached out a hand and carefully lifted the lid to reveal… a near empty box. The only contents on the black velvet inside was a single fiery orange pebble. The group let out a collective sigh, dropping off one by one to take their seats at the meeting.

‘Don’t be disheartened, paladins! This is merely the beginning.’ Coran announced regally. ‘Since I’ve discovered you earthlings are rather fond of collecting precious stones, I thought we’d start a collection as a team, allow us Altean’s to get a better understanding of your species.’

Coran remained standing proud as the group began sharing looks of confusion.

‘Coran,’ Shiro started, a steadying hand falling on the other’s arm, ‘earthlings don’t collect stones. Well, I mean, some do, but it’s not a universal trait.’

Coran faltered, eyebrows knotting, ‘But everyone’s been asking for them?’

Shiro was puzzled for precisely half a second before he turned to the guilty trio, who were all actively avoiding his gaze. Lance and Keith had been watching Shiro’s response and followed his gaze until it landed on their friends. Pidge was staring straight forward, face like a portrait. Allura twisted a finger around her hair, heavily invested in the way the wall connected to the ceiling and Hunk sat back in his chair, looking down at his hands as he fiddled with gloves. Quintessentially guilty behaviours.

‘YOU!’

‘YOU’RE WHY I KEPT FINDING STONES!?’

‘Oh, look at that, we’re a little off course I better straighten the ship.’ Allura spoke quickly, standing to bolt from the room, but Lance caught her elbow, pulling her back around and underneath his ice-cold glare.

‘What’s going on?’

Allura bit her lip, avoiding the double powered glare attack the new couple were sending them. She spoke carefully ‘It wasn’t out of malicious intent.’

‘IT WAS PIDGE’S IDEA!’ Hunk burst, distress clear in his voice.

Pidge whipped around, ‘HUNK!’

‘I’m sorry I panicked!’

Pidge buried her face in her hands.

‘What was Pidge’s idea?’ Keith asked, suspiciously.

Dragging her fingers down her face, Pidge pulled at the skin until she resembled a sinner rising from hell in a medieval painting.

‘Okay. We sort of discovered that you gave Lance pebbles on Lasalis because you liked him.’

Keith’s cheeks were just about ready to combust with the amount of blushing he’d done in the past five minutes. ‘Oh,’ was the only response he could manage.

Lance picked up the slack, whilst Keith was missing in action. ‘So, why did that lead us to conveniently bump into a hell of a lot of stones?’

‘Well…’ Pidge drew out the word like she was auditioning for a choir, trying to avoid answering.

Luckily, Hunk saved her.

‘Keith didn’t know he was crushing on you so we had to give him a little push!’ He cried, voice louder than necessary and beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

Keith tilted his head, ‘But I did know-’ He cut himself off as his blood ignited once again, whole face red as his body ejected itself into the sun. This was not a good day for his hypothalamus.

‘Wait, what?’ Pidge asked, intensely interested in Keith’s last words.

He prickled, embarrassment nearly killing him ‘You heard!’

‘Huh.’ Pidge was lost in thought, no longer paying him attention ‘I miscalculated.’

‘You think!?’ Lance squeaked, ‘I had to suffer through all of Keith’s adorable little displays because you guys couldn’t be bothered to ask one freakin’ question!?’

‘Well,’ Allura began in a calming voice, clearly trying to diffuse the situation, ‘we thought it would be better for Keith to discover his feelings naturally.’

‘At our expense!’ Lance yelped, ‘We’ve had a very stressful couple of days with all these stones appearing out of nowhere! Not to mention Keith got hurt when he thought I’d rejected him!’

The three lowered their heads in shame, before speaking as a chorus, ‘We’re sorry.’

Allura shot Keith a meaningful look, ‘We never meant for anyone to get hurt.’

‘Yeah, and I really did want to tell you, but Pidge wouldn’t let me.’

‘HUNK!’ Pidge cried, once again being thrown under the bus. ‘What is your problem!?’

‘Well, it’s not like it’s a lie…’ Hunk muttered, looking away.

‘HEY. At least I didn’t take it out on Lance when Keith got upset!’

‘Yeah, what was that about!?’ Lance jumped in, scowling at his friend, ‘cookie denial is soul crushing dude!’

Hunk cowered, shrinking in his seat.

‘See,’ Pidge pointed out in a smug tone, ‘Lance is on my side.’

‘You’re not off the hook.’ Keith warned, folding his arms as his eyes turned into piercing daggers, ‘No matter what your intent was, if you guys had just told me in the first place then none of this would have happened.’

The guilty trio nodded, offering a sprinkling of apologies.

‘But,’ Allura began, smiling at them ‘we are glad you’re finally together.’

The couple blushed, having forgotten where all the stress had brought them.

‘Yeah! We just wanted to see you being an adorable couple!’ Hunk chimed happily, cooing when the blushes got deeper.

‘Okay!’ Keith cried, unable to take much more attention before he really did combust. ‘You’re forgiven, just- no more interfering.’

The three nodded eagerly, ‘One hundred percent! Keeping secrets nearly killed me!’

‘Yeah and me.' Pidge glared at the traitor sat beside her, 'You’d have me executed with how bad you are at it.’

Lowering his head sheepishly, he apologised ‘Again, sorry. I’m really not cut out for a double life.’

Pidge shook her head, smiling affectionately.

‘Okay,’ Shiro announced, having let the scene play out in front of him for long enough, ‘Let’s all agree to leave Keith and Lance alone from now on.’

Keith let out a sigh of relief, thankful for Shiro’s existence. The meeting continued mostly as normal from there, the only difference being the brief touches Keith felt as Lance knocked his hand into his and played with his fingers under the table. Each touch made his heart rush like he was about to go sky-diving straight into Lance's affections. When the meeting adjourned, Lance grasped his hand fully and guided him back through the castle like an ethereal being. Making their way up to the mezzanine in the old library they lay down side by side gazing up at the stars.

‘I know it was stressful,’ Lance began, turning his head to give Keith a fond look, ‘but I’m kind of glad the other’s meddled.’

‘Yeah,’ Keith agreed, squeezing the hand in his, ‘Me too.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah the last chapter of the story!! I hope it's a satisfying ending!! (◠‿◠✿)  
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments, I love you all!! ♥  
> Epilogue will be uploaded next weekend (fingers crossed), so until then~


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith realises he needs a new sleeping arrangement but is also bad at communicating. Fluff~

A month of dating - of soft touches, warm hugs, and passionate kisses - and Keith found himself missing Lance. Not constantly, not consistently. Most of the time it was softened to a dull sense in the back of his mind like a thin mist on the edge of the horizon. But at night, when he lay in bed alone, it would come crashing down on him like a raging storm casting the sea into a choppy mess, ripping ships apart and sending sailors to their doom.

And Keith was getting restless.

His blankets were no longer warm enough, the blue no longer sleepy enough, his dreams no longer sweet enough. And after a week of not sleeping he had transformed into bitter, exhausted lemon. As he settled down, tucking his blankets closely around his body like a cocoon, the aching in his chest returned with a vengeance.  It spread through his body like a virus until every muscle in his body shook, no cell left untouched by its icy fingers.

Enough was enough.

Tearing his sheets apart, he stamped towards his door, and waltzed straight up to Lance’s room. He slammed his fist onto the door, knocking three times before his rage finally simmered down.  

Wait.

He hadn’t thought this through.

Bolting down the corridor, he hid around the corner, face of a tomato and heart beating uncontrollably fast. Trying to regain his breath he leaned against the wall for support before sneaking a look back at the door. A bleary-eyed Lance was slowly sweeping his eyes across the corridor, finding it distinctively empty. Rolling his eyes, he trudged back into is room, stifling a yawn.

Keith sighed in relief, before slipping down the wall until he was crouched on the floor.

Lance had a way of making him feel at ease. When they were alone together, he could expose his vulnerability. And somehow, Lance managed to tame it, turn it from a raging beast tearing through Keith’s mind into a manageable pet that he could handle on his own. All with only a few choice words, a couple of minor touches or simply just his presence.

But he could also turn Keith into a self-conscious pool of fluster with the exact same weapons. His face still exploded into intense red blushes whenever Lance brushed his shoulder, leaned in too close or even caught hold of his hand in public. And god forbid he ever received a compliment! That was a sure-fire way to turn Keith into a supernova, burning entire solar systems with his uncontrollable feelings.

Now, caught between a rock and the freaking sun, Keith was an impulsive jumble of nerves and confidence, able to make it to the door but incapable of being there when it opened. A moth swooping ever closer to the lamp but never landing for fear that it could be withholding a candle.

Every night he’d make the bold decision to confront Lance and then immediately quiver in his boots and end up hiding like a hermit crab. He was making steady improvements though, for example, the following evening he took a light jog to Lance’s door instead of an all-out sprint and waited all of five seconds before he dove for cover. And last night was really just a moonlit stroll through the park, the knocks were even light and calm. The erratic footfalls of retreat, however, were not.

It had been a week now. A whole week of existing as an insomniac zombie and he hadn’t made any real progress. And his lack of sleep was causing him to malfunction, just that morning the training robot had beaten his ass to a pulp on easy and he had been more than willing to spend the rest of his life lying on the training room floor. Tonight, he had to confront Lance. Honestly, if he didn’t stay put this time he’d need to start inquiring about getting his hands on some super glue or maybe he could just weld his shoes to the floor?

His knuckles wrapped against the door, sound echoing through the corridor. Then he heard the tell tale thump of Lance’s feet falling heavily onto the floor.

Nope.

He couldn’t do it.

Once again, he found himself legging it from the corridor, barely skidding around the corner in time as an angered Lance nearly ripped his door from its hinges and stuck his head out like a chicken.

‘KEITH! GHOSTS DON’T KNOCK.’

Keith swallowed. Guilty as charged. He stepped out from behind the corner, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

‘Hey.’

Lance stared at him with wide eyes like an owl, ‘Hey.’

When Keith didn’t say anything despite Lance’s freaky face, he changed tactic. Sighing he dragged his body up to lean against the doorframe and folded his arms, ‘Look, if there’s something you want to talk about, just do it. No more of this knock and run nonsense.’

Keith gulped and began edging closer, lips still buttoned shut.

‘Keith,’ Lance was analysing him now, teeth worrying at his lip, ‘You know you can trust me, right?’

Keith nodded quickly, nearly in front of him now.

‘Then, please,’ Lance begged, pulling his hands into his own and giving them a comforting squeeze. ‘just talk to me.’

His head was tilted slightly, face of concern as his eyes searched his tired features for answers. Keith took a deep breath.

‘I want to sleep with you.’

Lance’s eyes doubled in size as he barely stifled a choke.

‘WAIT NO THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! Oh my god-’

Keith face was on fire. He ripped his hands back and buried his forehead in them, whole body screaming as it tried to pull the double entendre back onto his tongue so he could swallow it down, never to see the light of the world again. Failing that, new words would have to do.

‘I meant sleep as in sleep sleep, like literally sleep not-‘  Keith’s panicked words fell in quick succession as his body ignited like a phoenix without wings.

‘I’m just gonna go,’ His hand raised in a quick salute without his permission, as he swivelled around and attempted to walk away without any knees.

‘Wait.’

A hand caught in the crook of his elbow, stopping him in his tracks. He slowly turned to see a shy Lance hiding behind a pinkened face.

‘Let’s do it.’

Lance’s face fell as his words betrayed him.

‘I MEAN LET’S SLEEP TOGETHER.’

His horrified expression intensified, mouth forming a gaping void as his face lit up like a firework. ‘SHIT! I MEAN…’ ~~~~

He cut himself off in favour of gathering oxygen into his famished lungs. The two were stood a careful distance apart wide-eyed, red, and barely coherent as they concentrated on avoiding each other’s gazes, the corridor becoming a magma chamber.

‘Let’s just…’ Lance sighed, gesturing to the door, his gaze only briefly landing on Keith before quickly shifting away as if following a fly.

Keith managed a ‘yep,’ before he robotically followed Lance into his room.

Now inside, Keith had forgotten how to stand. Were his feet usually this far apart? Where the hell should he put his hands? Is his face relaxed? HE CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT SHAPE HIS LIPS USUALLY FORM.

‘Dude.’

Keith glanced up from his internal crisis to see Lance had already settled himself in bed, shuffling back into the wall and looking at him expectantly. Keith was struggling to think beyond his stance, only able to squeeze out a pathetic, ‘yeah?’

Lance sighed dramatically, neck slackening to let his head hang like a pendulum, ‘Just get in.’

That would solve his standing problem. Keith nodded eagerly, peeling back the blanket and lying down. He could hear Lance wiggling next to him, trying to get comfy. He chanced a glance at him through the corner of eye. Wow he was close. So close that Keith could see the cowlicks forming in his hair. Close enough to feel his breath across his cheek. Suddenly aware of his own respiratory system and how suffocating the sheets had become he quickly flipped over, facing the dark expanse of his room.

‘Goodnight!’ He rushed out, despite feeling about as far away from sleep as possible.

Lance let out a yawn before drawing out a sluggish ‘Night.’

Keith still wasn’t comfortable. His mind had stopped racing thankful to Lance’s presence behind him, but something was missing. He hadn’t slept in a bed properly since before joining the blades, maybe that was it? He pulled the blanket tighter around himself, but it had no effect. Not that he could feign surprise, he already knew the solution, he was just too stubborn to admit it.

‘Lance?’

His voice cut through the darkness and floated in the air around them until Lance stirred. He felt the mattress dip, then an arm appeared around his shoulder. Warmth flooded across his back as Lance leaned his chest against him, holding him close as his head leaned close against his.

‘Yes, Keith?’ He whispered sweetly into his ear, breath tickling his jaw.

Keith practically melted at the closeness, everything clicking into place as he relaxed into the touch. Smiling to himself he hummed, ‘M’nothing.’

‘Okay!’ Lance sang, swinging his arm away and flipping back over, leaving the cold air to pour over Keith’s body. Keith’s mouth fell open as Lance so rudely began settling down in another hemisphere having teased him with the closeness he’d been craving.

‘Lance.’ He hissed, annoyance seeping into his tone.

Lance sighed with exasperation and flipped onto his back. ‘What?’

‘Am I gonna have to spell it out to you?’

‘You’ve barely said anything!?’ Lance yelped, throwing his hands up into the darkness ‘I’m not a mind-reader, you’ve got to give me something.’

Keith growled with frustration, twisting around to face Lance, ‘I’m no good at this!’

‘Yeah, no kidding.’

Keith was about to send the mother of all glares into Lance’s soul when he was met with a smirk that immediately threw him off.

That’s right.

This was Lance.

The person who couldn’t keep himself from teasing Keith, even when it was borderline dangerous.

The very person who understood Keith, even when his words didn’t match his thoughts. Who got just as flustered as him, felt just as vulnerable as him and got teased just as much him.

Keith took a deep breath, ‘Could you...uhh… maybe…come back… over here?’

Lance blinked at him as the air in Keith’s lungs froze.

‘Oh.’

And just like that, the smirk was back, and magnified. Lance’s face was practically touching his as he stated ‘You want to cuddle.’

Keith stubbornly avoided his wicked eyes, body stiffening again.

‘You’re gonna have to tell me Keith.’ Lance sang almost smugly as he pressed a finger to his sternum and gently stroked it down. ‘Like I said, I’m not a mind-reader.’

Keith bit his lip, unwilling to let the words begin their pilgrimage from his brain to Lance’s ears. ‘Why were you staying so far away anyway when you clearly don’t mind the proximity?’ 

Lance’s hand stopped moving, voice suddenly serious, ‘I thought you might want space. You took long enough to ask, I didn’t want to scare you off.’

He paused, before lifting his finger and shuffling a little further back, ‘I am reading this right, aren’t I?’

The worry in his voice pierced Keith’s heart, jolting him into motion. He threw out on arm to grab his shoulder and gain his full attention. 

‘No, no! You are reading this right! I’m just…' He trailed off, adding in a small voice, 'nervous.’

The tension in the air collapsed, as Lance let out his breath, finally relaxing again. ‘Me too. But cuddling? That’s definitely something I can do.’

Before Keith could process his words, Lance wrapped an anchoring arm around his waist and tugged him into his space. Throwing a leg over his, he encompassed Keith, their two worlds overlapping into one shared retreat. If the distance before was small, the gap was now microscopic. Keith couldn’t tell where he ended and where Lance began and it was perfect. As he tilted his head upwards his nose brushed Lance’s chin.

Lance chuckled before asking, ‘This better?’

‘Yeah. Much.’ Keith replied staring into the soft blue eye’s above him. Suddenly his limbs were heavy, and his eye-lids were drooping. He felt a pair of lips on his forehead before he drifted into sleep, completely at peace in Lance’s arms. This was the best sleeping arrangement he’d found yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end!!  
> This fic has been a lot of fun to write and all the comments have been so lovely ♥♥  
> This is my tumblr, hmu if you fancy it ( >◡•)~♥ smolstrawberrychara.tumblr.com  
> I'll probably post there when I next post on ao3  
> THANKS FOR READING!! 
> 
> Until the next time~ x


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